TCA: Dick Wolf Confirms Mothership 'Law & Order' Series Is Dead

“I can confirm that (Law & Order) has moved into the history books, the franchise creator Dick Wolf said at the opening of the TCA session for the latest spinoff, Law & Order: Los Angeles, putting an end to any speculation that the show still may find a new home. He opened the LOLAsession with a statement:

“We were extremely disappointed that Law & Order is not coming back for a record 21st season. But that’s life. All series start with a death sentence, they just don’t give you the date of execution. The past is the past, and this (LOLA) is a new show.”

After the panel, Wolf also squashed speculation about a possible Law & Order movie, stressing that this indeed was the end of Law & Order as we know it and saying that he was able to tell all stories he had wanted to tell within the framework of that show.

During the session, he refused to discuss whether financial issues led to the cancellation of the veteran series on NBC, only stressing that “in the 23 years I’ve been continuously on the air, we’ve never failed to make a deal when there was a deal to be made.”

The new series, LOLA, will be closer to the mothership than fellow spinoffs Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: CI, in terms of having the police and legal side play equal parts. “I’m not paying (Alfred Molina and Terrence Howard) to be secondary characters,” Wolf said. Molina and Howard have signed on alternate playing Assistant D.A.s on the show.

In terms of look, LOLA will be keeping the “Ching-ching” sound effect and the act cards but the rest is still in flux, Wolf said.